Well, at least we know now Missouri can’t hang with the old man… for four quarters, anyway. To be fair, the Tigers lead Georgia well into the third quarter in its SEC opener. But late turnovers ended up costing Mizzou and No. 7 Georgia pulled away by a final score 41-20 in a game that wasn’t that much of a blowout.

The loss marked a tough opening for the SEC’s two new teams. Texas A&M lost to No. 24 Florida earlier 20-17.

The biggest question heading into tonight’s game was could Missouri survive the transition to playing an SEC team in the trenches. Mizzou had plenty of explosive plays, but quarterback James Franklin couldn’t be a running threat. In general, a dual-threat quarterback just isn’t going to rack up a ton of yards against a typical SEC defense.

That’s because games at any level are won and lost in the trenches. Georgia won there tonight on both sides. There’s a reason the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 32-10 in the second half.

Mizzou may not realistically contend for an SEC East title this year, but that’s not to say it can’t be competitive and win some games. Both A&M and Mizzou showed they can hold their own at least for a little while. Now it’s about building a program that can last a little longer.

It never is a good idea for a player to talk smack before a game, giving the opposing coach a motivational edge during the week preceding the game. College football is so dependent upon not only talent, but emotion.

Yes, the newbies both lost to “old man football.” Florida and Georgia both had to rise to the occasion to beat the newbies. Both had to raise their play and work hard. That is good for both Florida and Georgia. Because a game is 60 minutes, it has to be played that way. I think I was watching LSU and Washington and a short “at the half” interview with the coach of LSU, when he said, “no game is won in the first half” and I thought over that in these two games with the newbies.

Maybe if the games had been played 1/2 time the newbies would have won, or even 3/4 time, but all football games are played a full 60 minutes, or with UL-Monroe and Arkansas, a little longer or with Fl. State and Savannah State, mercifully a little shorter.

The thing I enjoyed as a college football fan, was that both Texas A&M and Missouri did play competitively. Truly, they had nothing to be ashamed of. They have some adjustments to make, an improvement of recruiting, and some other areas, but both teams seemed to fit right into the SEC.

It was a great initiation into the SEC for Mizzou. I hope they had a good learning experience. Here’s a few lessons:

1. Do NOT talk any trash to ANY SEC team. Period! You will never see LSU or Alabama talking trash against Kentucky or Vanderbilt. Why? Because Kentucky or Vanderbilt may rise up and beat you. That’s the nature of the SEC. (By the way, Vanderbilt’s gotta Squad!)

2. You gotta play that Old-Man, Smash-Mouth Football in order to play in this conference. You can gadget all you want, but SEC football is trench warfare. You’re in the SEC, now. Bulk up in recruiting!

3. Speaking of recruiting, if you are going to compete in the Southeastern Conference, you gotta recruit well in the Southeast! Your Recruiting game must be strong in Georgia and Florida, period. If you can’t compete strong there, it’s going to be difficult.

But I think that Mizzou will do fine in the SEC. The fanbase looks rabid and they look like they have some great pieces. But you gotta let your PLAY talk for you. Keep your mouth shut and you may catch even the best ones sleeping.

Things are going to get a lot worse. You will have the luxury of hosting Alabama in a few weeks. Don’t be surprised if Vandy does not wear you out. Your best bet for a win is Kentucky at home. I rate you 1 and 7, unless you beat your old sister school A&M (not SEC).

Jimbo is 3-0 vs the SEC, and the ACC is beating the SEC this year. that said, seminole fans all hate the acc. their refs are retarded, the commissioner doesn’t care about the sport we care about, the bogus tv deals (I haven’t even been able to see my seminoles live on tv yet this year although that could arguably be west virginia’s fault), and the list goes on.